Competitive Eaters Gear Up for Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York

Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest is back for its annual 4th of July competition in New York’s Coney Island.

Last year, competitive eater Joey Chestnut from San Jose, California, took home the title after setting a new record for the competition by eating 70 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, according to Major League Eating. (Chestnut’s all-time world record is 73 Nathan’s famous hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, which he set in a warmup for last year’s competition.)

Californians have dominated the contest in the past, but New Yorkers are ready to fight back.

One competitor, Yasir Salem, told The Wall Street Journal that he enlisted the help of a hypnotist to stay on top of his game, in addition to eating four-pound salads and drinking a gallon of water daily.

“The idea of vomiting is what I found out held me back,” Salem said, so he had a hypnotherapist create a program to help with the fear.

Nathan’s Famous will also donate 100,000 hot dogs to the Food Bank for New York City.